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		<header>
			<h1>Flea-killer oils</h1>
			<p>Day 00792: Sunday, 2017 May 07</p>
		</header>
<section id="general">
	<h2>General news</h2>
	<p>
		I couldn&apos;t do it.
		I couldn&apos;t work up the courage to tell my mother we need to speak soon.
		I feel pretty lame.
		I did try to speak with them this morning, but it turns out they&apos;re off in Portland.
		I should&apos;ve said we need to talk soon, but instead, I just said I&apos;d wait until a better time to come over.
	</p>
	<p>
		My neighbour in the apartment just below mine apparently tried to find me at work.
		They asked about me at work, but my coworkers didn&apos;t know who I was.
		My coworkers know me by the name on my résumé, which had to be the name on my <abbr title="identification">ID</abbr>, which is the birth name I hate.
		My neighbour instead knows me by my real name, so I explained the situation to them.
		Soon this won&apos;t be an issue though.
	</p>
	<p>
		One of my coworkers talked about the fact I&apos;ll need to pay to have certain key documents replaced, such as my <abbr title="identification">ID</abbr> and birth certificate, which I&apos;d already planned on.
		The reason for my rush right now is the fact that my <abbr title="identification">ID</abbr> is expiring soon, giving me a small window in which I won&apos;t have to pay added fees (because I&apos;ll be having to pay the renewal fee whether I legally change my name or not).
		I&apos;d also thought about the Social Security card already.
		However, they also claimed I&apos;d need to update my birth certificate.
		... what?
		Why would I need to update that?
		I explained that I don&apos;t think that gets updated with a name change, but they insisted that they <strong>*have</strong> to update one&apos;s birth certificate when they change their name.
		As implausible as that sounds, it&apos;d allow me to be completely rid of my birth name.
		I knew my coworker was likely misinformed, but it was pleasant to think about.
		Once I got home, I did a quick Web search, and sure enough, there&apos;s no need for an updated birth certificate.
		In many cases, the courts won&apos;t even <strong>*allow*</strong> one to have their birth certificate amended based on a name change, though a couple corner cases exist.
		First, you can sometimes get your name amended on your birth certificate if you go through a sex change operation and legal sex change.
		I fear surgery and have no particular want to be physically female, so that&apos;d be a pretty extreme thing to go through just to erase another trace of my old name.
		That said, I&apos;m not really trying to hide my old name anyway.
		I just want to be free to use my preferred name in cases in which proof of name is required, such as when seeking employment.
		I don&apos;t want to be stuck going by my birth name during such large chunks of the day.
		The second time a change of name on the birth certificate is sometimes allowed is during the adoption of very young children.
		The birth parents are able to change the child&apos;s name to hide their own identities (by removing their surname from the child&apos;s name).
	</p>
	<p>
		A couple of my coworkers told me to put one of several oils in a spray bottle with water and spray it around my apartment.
		Supposedly, this will kill the fleas and rid my apartment of them.
		The oil options they listed were:
	</p>
	<ul>
		<li>
			Tea tree oil
		</li>
		<li>
			Lavender oil
		</li>
		<li>
			Peppermint oil
		</li>
		<li>
			Clove oil
		</li>
		<li>
			Lemon oil
		</li>
	</ul>
	<p>
		The lavender oil looks like a good option, as it&apos;d add a pleasant scent to my home.
		I also wouldn&apos;t mind my home smelling of lemons, and peppermint scent wouldn&apos;t be too bad.
		I&apos;m not sure what the other two smell like, but I&apos;ll keep an eye out mostly for the first three next time I go grocery shopping.
	</p>
	<p>
		I had a deaf customer come in today.
		That was kind of interesting.
		They tried signing things to me, and I understood some of it.
		Thankfully, they came with help, someone that understood them but also could speak and understand me.
	</p>
	<p>
		While cutting bell peppers today, I sliced my thumb.
		Having another working hand when you injure is one of those benefits of being ambidextrous!
		I highly recommend it.
		For anyone reading this that doesn&apos;t know, I wasn&apos;t always ambidextrous.
		When I say I recommend being ambidextrous, I do mean it literally and seriously.
		All you have to do is practice.
		You don&apos;t even need to take time out of your day to practice.
		Just perform all your everyday tasks while assigning each of your hands the opposite role as you normally do.
		The blade was pretty sharp though, so the cut was clean.
		Now that it&apos;s stopped bleeding everywhere, there&apos;s no problem.
	</p>
	<p>
		My <a href="/a/canary.txt">canary</a> still sings the tune of freedom and transparency.
	</p>
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